Well Bred | Copper Kettle Brewing Company

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Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a hazy, medium orange brown with a thin film that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, dark and light dried fruit, bourbon and toffee with a hint of oaky vanilla. Flavor is caramel malt, brown sugar, mild fresh and dried plum, bourbon and vanilla. Medium bodied with light creaminess and good carbonation despite the quiet pour. A fairly traditional English barleywine profile of caramel and dark fruit, a little on the mild side for the malt body. However it is more than sufficient to support the good bourbon barrel flavors. Finish is more robust than the initial taste. A pleasant and well balanced barleywine with a slightly lighter dark fruit component than traditional. The big 19 oz. can is an awkward size for a big beer like this; it is a little too big for a single sitting of a robust barleywine, but can't be capped like a bottle. I'm a big fan of smaller formats for big beers and I hope they consider a 12-16 oz. can for this.

Appears well-carbonated. Not a unique or special appearance for the style, but apt for a beer billed as a strong ale.

AROMA: Toasty white oak, vanilla, marshmallow, soft caramalt, English brown malts. The bourbon barrel character is impeccable. This is a heavenly aroma with some of the best bourbon aromatics I've come across in months. Mouthwatering.

Moderate aromatic intensity.

TASTE: Bourbon is the star of the show here, but it isn't quite as amazing as the aroma suggested. Soft marshmallow, toasted white oak with some subtle charred oak characteristics, English brown malts, barrel sugars, vanilla/barrel vanillin. The bourbon just melts seamlessly into the base.

Incredibly well-balanced, with a perfect integration of barrel into base...the only issue being - where exactly *is* the base? There's little on the table aside from a moderate presence of English malts and caramalt.

The marshmallow is fantastic.

TEXTURE: Smooth, wet, soft as can be, silky, velvety, and aptly full-bodied, with ideal thickness. Boasts a great overall presence on the palate. Carbonation is perfect. This is a terrific mouthfeel for the style.

OVERALL: The bourbon kicks ass, but the base beer is a blank slate at best. The texture's perfect and the barrel aging ideal, but as a whole it could be improved. Still, it's an incredible English strong ale with barleywine influence and is absolutely worth trying. Highly recommended terrific work from one of Colorado's most astounding newcomer breweries.

Poured into a Westy chalice a very nice murky brownish color, very nice carbonation, with a pretty nice small thick/creamy off-white head, which leaves some nice islands and sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, slight yeast, slight bourbon, oaky, with some vanilla notes, slightly fruity. The taste is pretty nice, malty, oaky, with some bourbon notes, vanilla notes, sweet. Full Body, ABV hidden pretty well. Overall, a tasty brew, I think there is too much vanilla though.

2014 bomber served in a Westy XII goblet. Pours a dark, burnt orange that is thick and murky, as if colloidal, with transparent edges quickly disappearing into the depths. Clarifies as it warms into a classic dark amber/orange. Virtually no head retention when cold, slight foaming around the rim when pouring a refill from a now-warmer bottle.

Toffee and vanilla on the nose, with a moderate dose of aromatics from the 10.7% abv (2014 vintage). Smells rich, but not terribly complex. Tastes of caramel, hazelnut syrup, and toast, with a light dusting of peach and other stone fruits. Low levels of hoppiness. Fairly chewy and smooth in texture, but with a bit more heat than expected. I wish I had a second bottle to age and see how it develops.